China’s Geespace sent eleven satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) this month as the second part of its Geely Future Mobility Constellation.

Geely Future Mobility Constellation is a commercial initiative to integrate communication, navigation and remote sensing within a single satellite network. The nine satellites of the first orbital plane were deployed in June 2022.

To date, Geespace has not only initiated mass production of satellites but also accomplished orbital plane level deployment, achieving constellation-level telemetry, tracking and command. The company is testing satellite applications.

With this advancement, Geespace says it has joined the global league of enterprises such as Iridium, Globalstar, Orbcomm, OneWeb and SpaceX, showcasing its capability to construct and manage a commercial satellite constellation. It also stands as the sole entity in China to have successfully completed such constellation orbital deployments. A feat achieved in 2023 by Geespace was the mass production of satellite communications for the automotive sector.

By 2025, Geespace aims to establish global real-time data communication services following the full deployment of 72 satellites in the constellation’s initial phase. The second phase will expand the network to 168 satellites, delivering global centimetre-level positioning services. This expansion is set to provide reliable and cost-effective satellite services to various sectors, including personal mobility with a focus on autopilot, intelligent connected vehicles, consumer electronics and beyond.

Additionally, the satellites come equipped with AI remote sensing functions, providing one to five metre high-resolution remote sensing imaging. This technology is poised to improve ecological environment monitoring and provide versatile imaging across diverse industries.

The Geely Future Mobility Constellation offers global satellite IoT service capabilities, comparable to Iridium Next satellites. From the initial design of the constellation, the provision of a direct-to-cell service was a key consideration, mirroring functionality recently introduced by Starlink’s V2 mini-satellites. Consequently, the constellation delivers satellite messaging and data transmission.

Geespace, focused on personal mobility, specialises in providing satellite data services to automotive and consumer electronics sectors.

By integrating communication, navigation and remote sensing, Geespace delivers various satellite data products and services. They are designed to support the belt-and-road initiative, fostering international cooperation. This approach should accelerate the commercialisation, large-scale implementation and global expansion of satellite applications.

In 2018, Geely Holding entered the aerospace industry with the establishment of Geespace (zgh.com/geespace) under Geely Technology Group with the purpose of developing, launching and operation of low-orbit satellites.